Accurate dispensing which is appropriate to requirements of flowable or pourable compositions is of relevance in a large number of fields of application.
Domestically, in particular, the dispensing of flowable substances is gaining in significance, this having its basis primarily in the exact dispensing, controlled according to requirements, of the corresponding active substances, whereby on the one hand the environment is protected by resource conservation and the prevention of incorrect or over-dispensing, while on the other hand the efficiency of the active substances dispensed in this way is optimized.
The dispensing of cleaning and scenting compositions in the toilet area is currently effected primarily by “toilet fresheners”. These comprise single- or multi-chamber containers, which are hung in the toilet bowl in such a way that, during the process of flushing the toilet bowl with water, an active substance is released from the toilet freshener into the toilet bowl.
Such devices are known for example from EP0828902 or DE10113036.
A significant disadvantage of these toilet fresheners is that dispensing depends substantially on the respective local flow conditions in the toilet bowl during the flushing process. However, flow conditions may differ widely as a function of toilet type and the positioning of the toilet freshener in or on the toilet bowl. It may thus happen, for example, that with certain toilet types no active substance is released from the toilet freshener, since no or insufficient water flows over the toilet freshener during the flushing process and the dispensing mechanism of the toilet freshener is thus not initiated.
Also, if flush water flows as intended over a toilet freshener, this is disadvantageous insofar as the water path intended by the toilet manufacturer is disturbed, whereby the flushing performance of a toilet may be noticeably reduced.
Active substances are usually released from such toilet fresheners as a result of penetration of flush water through openings in the toilet freshener, the preparations being partially dissolved and discharged by and swept away from the toilet freshener when the flush water exits through corresponding outlet openings. Depending on how the toilet freshener is arranged in the toilet, the strength of flow through it varies due to the frequently locally very different flow conditions involved in flush water outlet from the toilet bowl rim, whereby only diffuse release of the active substances may be achieved.
Conventionally the flush water stream is influenced, as described above, by the introduction of a toilet freshener. The changed flow conditions may change the flushing behavior of the toilet markedly. Frequently the flush water stream is influenced in such a way that water is splashed upwards out of the toilet bowl, such that flush water escapes from the toilet bowl or may come into contact with the user when the toilet is used, which as a rule is regarded as unpleasant.
Moreover, a purposeful flow path in toilets is designed as an attempt to reduce further the quantities of flush water used while maintaining the same or improved flushing behavior, such that any intervention in the flush water flow in toilets optimized in this way has a far greater effect on flushing behavior.
It would thus be desirable to have a release device for releasing active substances into a toilet bowl which dispenses active substances into the toilet bowl independently of the toilet flushing process.
In addition to targeted dispensing of preparations in a toilet, accurate dispensing of preparations in a manner appropriate to the circumstances has in particular also reached the field of automatic washing and dishwashing agents. These automatic washing and dishwashing agents are typically offered for sale to the consumer in solid form, for example as a powder or as tablets, but increasingly also in liquid or gel form. For some considerable time, attention has focused on convenient dispensing of washing and cleaning agents and on simplifying the operations required to carry out a washing or cleaning method.
Furthermore, one of the main objectives of manufacturers of automatic washing and cleaning agents is to improve the washing and cleaning performance of these agents, increasing attention having been paid in recent times to washing and cleaning performance in low temperature washing and cleaning cycles or in washing and cleaning cycles with reduced water consumption. To this end, new ingredients, for example more highly active surfactants, polymers, enzymes or bleaching agents have been added to the washing and cleaning agents. However, since new ingredients are only available to a limited extent and the quantity of the ingredients used per washing and cleaning cycle cannot be increased at will for environmental and economic reasons, there are natural limits to this approach to solving the problem.
In this connection, devices for multiple dispensing of washing and cleaning agents have recently in particular come to the attention of product developers. In terms of these devices, a distinction may be drawn between dispensing chambers integrated into the dishwashing machine or washing machine, on the one hand, and separate devices independent of the dishwashing machine or washing machine, on the other hand. These devices, which contain a multiple of the quantity of washing or cleaning agent required to carry out a washing or cleaning method, automatically or semi-automatically dispense washing or cleaning agent portions into the interior of the water-conveying domestic appliance over the course of a plurality of successive washing or cleaning methods. For the consumer, manual dispensing for each cleaning or washing cycle is no longer necessary. Examples of such devices are described in European patent application EP 1 759 624 A2 (Reckitt Benckiser) or in German patent application DE 53 5005 062 479 A1 (BSH Bosch and Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH).
For detecting a rinsing or washing section within a treatment program of a water-conveying domestic appliance, it is desirable to have the simplest and most reliable sensor system possible, and the simplest possible release element for dispensing the corresponding preparations.
It is furthermore desirable for a user to receive signals from such a release device, for example to indicate that a preparation is being sprayed or the end of a spraying operation.
The object of the invention is accordingly to provide a compact, inexpensive to manufacture device which dispenses preparations in response to predetermined, sensor-detected measured variables and which indicates at least the start and/or the end of active substance release to the user.
Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.